Improved railroad-rail joint



IATENTED SEPT. 5, 1865 K. W. KING & T. C. HARGRAVBS.

RAILROAD RAIL JOINT.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EENDALL vv. KING AND THOMAS o. HAEGEAVES, vor BOSTON, MAss.

IMPROVED RAILROAD- RAI L JOINT,

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 49,763, dated September 5, 1865.

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that we, KENDALL W. KING and THOMAS C. HARGRAVES, all of Boston,in the county of Suiolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Gonnecting RailroadRails; and we do hereby deolare that the following, taken in connection with the drawing which accom pan ies and forms part of this specification, is a description of our invention sufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

This improvement relates to the manner ot` connecting the common T-rails of railwaytracks to preventrespective lateral and vertical movement thereof; and the invention con? vsis'ts in the employment of double headed bolts with tislrplates having elongated slots, through which and slots made through the web ot' the rails these double-headed. bolts are passed, the bolts and fish-plates having such construction that by turning the bolts a quarter Ot' a turn or less the plates are clamped tightly against the. ends of the adjacent rails between the treads and lianges, preventing all lateral and vertical play, but permitting the endwise movement ot' therails consequent upon lengthening and shortening by expansion and contraction.

The drawing illustrates the adjacent ends of two rails connected in this manner, A and B representing respectively elevatlons of the opposite sides ofthe rails, C a'transverse sec tion on the line :t at', and D a horizontal section taken on the line z z.

a and b Idenote the rails to be connected,

head, t', on one end Ot' itsv stem, and a keying' or clamping head, k, on the opposite end. The round head tits into a countersink in the plate e, the outer surface of which is or may be dat, (with the exception of the couutersinks,)wh1le the other end is made of a width that permits of its free passage through the slots in the rails and plates, -and has inclines upon the inner facesvhich act, as the bolt is turned, upon inclinations formed by adepression in the outer face ofthe pla-tef. The stem of each bolt, between the acting-surfaces of its opposite heads, is made of a length corresponding to the distance through the web of the rails and the two plates in the line of the slots, so that when the bolt is passed through the'slots and is then turned by a wrench applied to the head 7s the inner faces ot' this head shall impinge upon the inclined surfaces in the outer face ofthe pla-te f, drawing the two plates tightly against the. rail and clamping the rails in position. A

It will be observed that each counters-ink in the plate e has a depression extending from it formed by the slot in the plate, and to preto drive'up the inner surface ot' the headff slightly into the depression formed by the slot, thus preventing it l'rom turning by any jar or motion ot' the rail, but olering onlya slight obstacle to turning the bolt byawrench when necessary to remove it. By the employ. ment Ot' this means ot' securing the plates in position against the rails, instead of the common method, in which the bolts are used to fasten the plates by keys or nuts, we not only prevent lateral and vertical movenlentof either rail with respect to the other, whilepermitting endwise movement, but we accomplish this purposeby means easily and expeditiously applied, and without the employment ot' keys or wed ges, which are liable to be shaken or jarred from position.

We claim- The double-headed bolts, Operating, in connection with the slotted usb-plates, to confine the rails in position,substantiallyas set forth.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands this 15th day of July, A. D. 1865.

KENDALL W. KING.

' T. C. HARGRAVES. Witnesses: g J. B. CROSBY,

F. GOULD. 

